Special master reveals expenses

His job is to make the jail meet constitutional standards. YOUNGSTOWN -- The special master appointed to improve the overcrowded and unsafe Mahoning County jail estimates his expenses will be $1,370 each month for the next six months. Vincent M. Nathan, a Toledo attorney and professor of criminal justice at Toledo University, submitted his estimate Tuesday to U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd Jr. An Akron federal judge appointed Nathan to recommend solutions for the jail. Last month, the judge determined the jail violates inmates' constitutional rights. Nathan's expenses include $25 per hour for an assistant, or $750 for 30 hours each month over the next six months. The expenses also include $150 in hotel costs for two trips to Youngstown each month for Nathan and his assistant, $160 for meals, $210 for gas mileage and $100 for miscellaneous. Nathan's hourly wage of $125 was not included in the report. He estimates he will spend 50 hours a month, which will be 300 hours over six months for a cost of $37,500. In a ruling last month, the judge ordered that Mahoning County pay the costs associated with a special master.